Durga Puja is a time for community fun: Manimala Hazarika

For Atyujwal Deka and Manimala Hazarika, a couple residing in Powai, the best thing about Durga Puja is the “community fun” besides the opportunity to “change society”. Originally from Assam, the duo have been living in Mumbai for 19 years and have a 13-year-old son. While Deka is a cybersecurity expert, Hazarika works in e-commerce.

“The festive season actually starts with Mahalaya. We get into a festive mood by beginning with house cleaning,” said Hazarika who used to live in Kandivli.

Barring the minor differences — the silk Mekhela Chador (two-part saree) that goddess Durga and her incarnations wear, Gamocha around her children’s neck, the size of drums used during Puja — there isn’t much difference between Assamese and Bengali Durga Puja celebrations. “In fact, since I have grown up in a Bengali-dominant family, I have been more used to that way of Puja,” says Hazarika who enjoys pandal hopping as well.

Hazarika says, she will miss organising Durga Puja the most this year since they recently shifted out of Kandivli, where she used to be part of an organising committee. “Songs in Bengali, Oriya and Assamese were part of our cultural activities. We loved serving food to people. We even raised funds and adopted a local school there. Social change is what the Puja should be about,” says Hazarika. “It is that kind of adda during Durga Puja and being part of that is how we celebrate the Durga Puja,” concludes Deka.